Calypso-class small battleship
The Calypso-class small battleships (referred to as battlecruisers by the Terran Alliance) were a series of dedicated flagship units to coordinate and lead the large numbers of Arabella-class heavy cruisers that were in use with the small Arzhov Confederation. Design The Calypso-class battleships were, broadly, merely an up-armoured Shiriya: they sacrificed some of the high maneuverability and speed of that type for improved protection. Otherwise, they bore the same gentle wedge-shaped hull as many Consortium-built capital ships, notably the famous Nagato that fought in the Third War in Heaven. Due to the beam and shock cannon-resistant hullform, and also thanks to the advanced nature of Consortium armour, they could afford to devote significantly less armour to their hull while achieving the same level of protection as a contemporary Terran Alliance battleship. The high mobility of the type, exceeding that of Consortium battleships (notoriously quick on their feet), was provided by five Saikai Aerospace Industries impulse thrusters in concert with three smaller thrusters of the same variety. As in Consortium ships, drive vents were located throughout the hull for maneuvering and shuttered when not in use. In keeping with Arzhov practice, the ships were not named for anything or anyone in particular: as a general rule, their battleships and battlecruisers tended to bear female names, and in this case the Calypso''s were no exception. This was in contrast to the Terran Alliance, which tended to name its ships after abstract concepts, moral and chivalric themes, or astral bodies in the Sol system. Armament The ''Calypso class were armed with much the same equipment as that of Shiriya: eighteen 31cm/53-cal "shock cannons" operating under the Gauss theory, designated 8-''Shiki Kai'' and located throughout the wedge-shaped hull to give her the best possible arcs of fire with at least half the main battery on the broadside and all of it able to focus forward. These were extraordinarily powerful weapons for their calibre in keeping with Consortium doctrine, firing a 605-kg projectile at 12,000 km/s out to a range of 15 light-seconds. The primary battery was supplemented by four quadruple torpedo launchers, each firing a 9-m-long 61cm otherspace torpedo tipped with a 750kg warhead. This was a unique Consortium weapon: by submerging into otherspace, it could approach a target undetected by point defenses until the last possible moment, where it would reemerge in realspace and hit the target for maximum effect with its thanatonium-laced gravitic warhead. The secondary, or anti-destroyer, armament consisted of several 12.7cm/50 Gauss rifles mounted in pairs throughout the hull as a dual-purpose artillery system capable of engaging small auxiliary combatants such as cruisers and destroyers as well as high-speed starfighters. They were equipped with 48-kg shells and had a rapid rate of fire to facilitate stopping a small warship in its tracks. Finally, the Calypso''s were also equipped with a large battery of Consortium-provided 5.7cm and 2cm autocannons for use against starfighters and small unprotected warships such as destroyers which got too close. A network of 3.7cm maser cannons across the ship provided a last-ditch point defense against missiles and torpedoes as well as strafing strike craft on their final attack run. History Commission Early Service Alliance-Imperial War Third War in Heaven Service Decommissioning Ships in class * ''Calypso (BB-14) * Seraphina (BB-15) * Victoria (BB-16) * Glenys (BB-17) * Antoinette (BB-18) Category:Starships Category:Starship classes Category:Arzhov Confederation Category:Arzhov Starships Category:Battleships Category:Battlecruisers